Dragon Cave Temple - Wat Ban Tham - Kanchantaburi Thailand 2024

Wat Ban Tham, just south of Kanchanaburi in West Thailand, illustrates two local practices at once: the ancient tradition to build monasteries in natural caves and the relatively new fashion in monastic communities to experiment with cement and paint.

In this case, to reach the cave, one has to pass inside the body of a psychedelically colored dragon.

An impressive Buddha statue dominates the main hall of the cave. But, the side chamber contains something unusual: a stalactite said to house the spirit of Bua Kli.

She was one of the many consorts of Khun Paen, a legendary governor of Kanchanaburi, an epic hero known to have been invincible in battle, irresistible in love, and skillful in magic. When Bua Kli died in pregnancy, Khun Paen extracted the unborn child to make a gumanthong, a powerful talisman that renders its wearer immune to all weapons.

Some of the locals say her spirit had become a ghost as a side effect, and now resides in this cave. Worshipers have wrapped the stalactite in colorful ribbons, brought hundreds of toys and items of children's clothes to its base.

It is believed that the spirit of Bua Kli can grant plentiful offspring and cure female infertility, a very big issue in family-centered Asian cultures.

The area around Kanchanaburi has a lot of caves and, typically for Thailand, many of them are used as temples or monasteries. This one is no different. To explore this temple it requires climbing the seemingly endless stairs.

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